Oldham-Ramona math teacher indicted on child rape charges

Feb. 13, 2014

Jeffrey Loren Nolte

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The Oldham-Ramona School District’s golf coach and high school math teacher has been indicted on rape and sexual contact charges against an 8-year-old girl in Lincoln County.

Jeffrey Loren Nolte, 37, of Canton was indicted Monday on two counts of first-degree rape and one count of sexual contact with a child for incidents alleged to have taken place between 2010 and 2014.

He originally was arrested in January on suspicion of raping two girls, ages 8 and 14. But he was not indicted on crimes against the older girl.

“At this point, the state is proceeding on the counts charged in the indictment,” Lincoln County State’s Attorney Tom Wollman said.

The grand jury heard testimony about three separate incidents in Canton involving the younger girl in the past four years.

Neither girl was a student of Nolte’s, Wollman said.

Nolte had been a Canton city commissioner from 2008 through 2012, and was nominated as an “Angel in Adoption” in 2012 by Sen. Tim Johnson after he and his wife adopted four children. In 2012, he told the Argus Leader that he and his wife had been foster parents for 11 other children.

Nolte has been suspended from his Oldham-Ramona job as coach and grade 8-12 math teacher, Superintendent Tom Ludens said. The superintendent declined further comment, saying he couldn’t talk about a personnel matter.

Nolte began working for the district this school year, school board minutes show. He also was teaching math this year for Spring Lake Colony High School, according to South Dakota Department of Education records.

Nolte also had been a golf coach for Canton High School but has not been employed with the district for more than a year, Canton Superintendent Terry Gerber said.

“He was a community member who filled in for us,” Gerber said.

Nolte was arrested on the rape charges without incident Jan. 9. He was released on a $75,000 cash bond Jan. 17.

Nolte did not return calls for comment. His arraignment is scheduled to take place in March.

The accusations are the only charges on Nolte’s South Dakota record aside from a speeding ticket in Arlington.